Void
Void is a non-magical matter-erasing phenomenon on Aerb manifesting from particular crystals called void crystals. These crystals are the only source of the effect that is seen in Worth the Candle. Usage of the void effect is heavily restricted by the Empire of Common Cause because every use brings the Void Beast, a world-ending threat, closer to Aerb. Void crystals Discovered sometime within the last 700 years , void crystals are small, purple crystals that are triggered into producing the void effect when they are charged with electricity . The void effect radiates outwards from the crystal, deleting matter within line-of-sight, with depth of penetration inversely proportional to the density of the matter . A spherically-expanding void effect also decreases in penetrating power as the distance from the source of the effect increases . The void crystal can also be coaxed to emanate the void effect along a line, punching holes through objects without depleting the crystal . Curiously, the strength of the void effect does not seem to depend on the size of the crystal, at least for crystals less than one foot long . Nothing has been shown to resist the void effect - not even the apparently-inviolable stone of the Zorish Isles . The effect of the void on other void crystals depends on the distance. If a void crystal is less than one foot away from another crystal that has been set off, the void crystal is simply consumed. At distances greater than one foot, the first void explosion sets off a second void explosion . That the cut-off distance is one foot may be related to the fact that void crystals under one foot in length all produce the same strength of void effect - it may be the case that the majority of a void crystal is destroyed by its own effect . At some time between the discovery of void crystals and the present day, the Void Beast was discovered as a threat to all of Aerb. The characteristics and capabilities of the Void Beast are largely unknown, but usage of void tools and weaponry causes the entity to draw nearer to Aerb, which could result in all of Aerb being destroyed. Following the discovery of the Void Beast, an imperial ban was established - presumably by the Empire of Common Cause - on usage of void tools and weaponry. The establishment of the Risen Lands exclusion zone predates the imperial ban on the void effect, meaning that void crystals may be scavenged from tools and spare parts left behind in the exclusion zone . Amaryllis takes advantage of these circumstances to build a void tunneler when she is dropped into the Risen Lands. Void weaponry Weapons using the void effect are range-limited to 500 feet , but there are specific applications in which they excel, due to the profusion of things in Aerb which will not be hurt or damaged by mundane gunfire . The void effect is non-magical, and therefore cannot be warded against . However, this means that revision magic is wholly effective at undoing the damage done by void weapons. A gold mage, on the other hand, has no defense against the void effect except for their offensive ability . The void effect is one of the few ways to bypass the defenses of a still mage . Void tunneler Amaryllis builds a handgun that uses the void effect out of spare parts in the Risen Lands . This gun emanates the void effect along a straight line and can be fired about once every four seconds . The improvised weapon consists of a squeeze-handle on a rubber grip attached to a palm-sized box with a hole in the end . Void rifle After Amaryllis gives Juniper her void tunneler, she builds the larger void rifle . Juniper and his party carry void rifles throughout their whole adventure. This gun emanates the void effect along a straight line and can be fired about once every six seconds . Void grenade A void crystal with an attached mechanism to discharge electricity into it. This is perhaps the simplest void weapon that can be made. Used on many occasions by the Color Riot and Amaryllis in the Risen Lands . Helicopter-mounted void cannon Larkspur Prentiss, in flagrant violation of imperial law, brings these weapons along on his convoy of helicopters when he is pursuing the party with the help of Doris Finch's probability magic . Void arrow An invention from the collaboration of Fenn and Amaryllis that they had been keeping from Juniper - until the time came to reveal it - on the basis of narrative success . The arrow is intended to be shot from Fenn's artillery bow, which has the capability of producing up to 2048 copies of the arrow. The void arrow is thus far the most powerful void weapon that the party has had first-hand experience of . Void Beast The Void Beast is an entity of unknown capability that is drawn towards manifestations of the void effect. It is unclear where the entity resides with respect to the greater cosmology of Aerb, but it appears to be able to reach at least Aerb and the elemental planes . The discovery of the Void Beast was the reason for imperial ban on void tools. This ban had been successful in lessening the danger that the Void Beast poses to Aerb, as the entity is further away in the present day than it was at the time of its discovery . However, as per a notification that Juniper gets from the game layer, the Void Beast has recently begun approaching Aerb again, and more drastic action will be necessary to forestall its approach . Doomed Timeline In the doomed alternate timeline detailed in Chapter 131, A Cypress Waits, alternate-Amaryllis puts into action preventative measures of detonating stockpiles of void crystals within various elemental planes to stall the Void Beast . Nevertheless, the Void Beast was eventually responsible for the destruction of Aerb about 100 years after the present day . This particular measure had been known to the people of Aerb for as long as the Void Beast itself had been known .